https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/01/apple-vision-pro-available-in-the-us-on-february-2/
Apple Vision Pro will be available beginning Friday, February 2, at all U.S. Apple Store locations and the U.S. Apple Store online.
I'm skeptical on whether this will be a hit with the audience, but at least they're releasing something I guess. I remember when Microsoft announced HoloLens, which then fizzled out.
I can’t afford it but I am so excited for it to hit the market and hopefully spur competition and usher in more innovation and lower price options.
The tech looks really promising
I’m pretty excited to see unfiltered reviews of this thing. It will be really interesting to see what apps get released and how people actually end up using it.
There is too much wasted wealth in this world. An AR headset is a great idea. Not at that price. Anyone who is spending that much on a first-generation AR device is too rich.
It's a big ask for an unproven platform. But then the same could be said for the original Mac, which launched in 1984 at $2500, which would be $7000+ today.
I suppose the question is will Vision Pro be the next Mac or the next Lisa.
Like the Mac or the iPhone, you can’t tell until you start using it.
Never forget how much everyone balked at the phone because it didn’t have buttons or that it was too expensive. And then they used it.
The iPhone was a still more natural progression from previous mobile phones people already owned and understood though.
There's no precedent at all for using a headset for most people however, so it's much harder sell to get them to take the leap.
There are plenty of headsets out there already, and by “most people” can I assume “not gamers”? Headsets are in use for most people and architectural work or design or gaming… Just not for people in general. It’s a niche.
The only reason for that is that there designs are based upon WHO they think their public IS and what they think the public can afford to buy. Their market defines the product, not the other way around.
But like the iPhone, Vision is going to redefine what you can do with a headset, and in that it will redefine who the market CAN BE.
When the price comes down enough maybe it will be for everybody, but for now, it will still be in niche item. It’s just that you’re gonna get a look at what a real headset can do, and I look forward to having my mind blown.
@HollandJim @thehatfox perhaps I’m old, but when people say headset I automatically think over ear headphones. Are you talking VR or AR?
@DAlpha - I’m not sure it matters these days. Apple Vision is both.
Edit: Am way old too, and yet I want to try it out badly.
I still want my buttons back. and 3.5mm. just because they force something and take away all other options, doesn't make their decisions smart. Just forced.
I agree with you on 3.5m jacks, but buttons are gone because they’re objectively worse. They’re more likely to fail, slower to use with thumbs, and take up fixed space that could be used for content when the keyboard isn’t in use, which is most of the time. Plus a software keyboard can support many more features, including different layouts for different languages on a single device, swiping and other gestures, multiple layers with visual feedback, emoji selection, different screen orientations, etc. Physical keyboards are gone because they’re objectively worse.
Cars are transportation devices that need to prioritize safety, and aren’t used for communications or visual media. Physical buttons make sense there because it’s a completely different kind of device used for different purposes that require different tradeoffs.
Incidentally, the only qwerty keyboard in my car is also touchscreen, but I never use it because I don’t need to.
I think it’s that expensive, because it is really hard to mass produce and so they want to reduce number of sales needed while still get the project costs back. If there one thing that apple has mastered, it is the calculation of expected number of sales depending on price. They will adjust margin accordingly and will never gift you anything. That is why the price is so high, they know there will be few buyer, but those who buy whatever they ask.
And also just 256GB of storage at that price.
They want you flying on a plane watching a bunch of movies or playing a bunch of games and give you 256GB.
Don’t forget spatial video. A minute of spatial video is approximately 130MB. 256 GB is going to fill up fast.
Readers will be available for $99
Has anyone here used a different VR headeset who also needs reading glasses? I use readers (I had laser eye surgery, which made me need reading glasses much earlier than usual). I tried the Meta Quest 3 over the holidays and was surprised to discover that I didn’t need reading glasses to see things “up close.”
I would argue there's a lot of cool, new, tech in this headset to justify some of the price premium. Not $3500 but certainly some of it.
The most ridiculous Apple tax is still either with the$1000 pro stand for the monitor. Or the Apple Mac Pro wheels at $700.